Who is or was Melchisedec? Although he was only mentioned in three places in the Bible but seemed to hold a high priest position above all others. Some articles even went so far as to proclaim him a Pre incarnate Jesus. In Genesis :14, Abraham was blessed by Melchisedec after his battle to save his nephew Lot. Abraham goes so far as to give Melchisedec a tenth of all the goods he recovered in the battle. At the time Melchisedec was the King of Salem ( Jerusalem?). In Hebrews : 6, 7, and 8. Melchisedec is called a High priest of God, a king of peace, a king of Salem. He had no record of ancestors and there is no record of his ending and beginning of his life. He was not a descendant of any Levites where normally the priest were from. It is said he was a high priest for ever resembling the Son of God. There fore are we to conclude that Melchisedec was a spirit sent to earth in the form of a human and return to Heaven as in the case of Elijah not experiencing death? He lives eternally?
It was also said Jesus is like Melchisedec and a high priest in the order of Melchisedec. It was evident the apostles knew the importance of Melchisedec in the Book of Hebrews. So why is there not more on him if he held such a high position? I decided to do some research to find out more on Melchisedec.
In one publication, Melchisedec was called the King of Peace. Bible scriptures called Jesus the Prince of Peace so does this mean that he was a holy high priest or angel in Gods temple that took on a human form to dwell on earth in biblical times. Had he visited earth as a messinger or an agent of God with the power as God? We all know that God in Heaven has many of angels or Priest in various levels of power that dwell or serve in the House of the Lord so it is not that God is alone.
Another article I found suggest that Melchisedec was the pre incarnate Christ that came to earth to converse with Abraham well in advance of his birth in Bethlehem hundreds of years later. This article also states he had no father or mother, did not die, or was not born of earthly humans. Essentially he was a spirit or the actual incarnate of Christ.
One article suggested that Melchisedec was actually God himself in human form but goes on to say he might have been an intercessor for God. In Psalms 110.1 David is saying " the lord is saying to my Lord" (This indicates there are two lords conversing) "2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 3 Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. 4The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
Another part of this article states: Therefore we see in this scripture that this one who is called Lord and Master will also be called a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek. It does not tell us that He is Melchizedek, but he will be a priest after the Order, which word AFTER comes from the Hebrew word, 'al' and it means, 1) upon, on the grounds of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with,… Therefore this one that is spoken of here will come and enter into a Priestly order which was founded by this Melchizedek. This then tells us that This Melchizedek laid the groundwork for this priestly order. He set the pattern, in which this other Lord will follow. At one point it states that Melchisedec was in fact Jesus in a preincarnate form. When Jesus was born, Melchisedec became Jesus in human form then we hear nothing else about Melchisedec until the book of Hebrews. I would have to think that Melchisedec was a priest of the highest order in the Lords house ( Heaven) with a large amount of power and ruling capacity.
Another article states also that Melchisedec and Jesus are the same person ( a preincarnate Jesus) at which time of Jesus birth, he became Jesus and at Jesus Resurrection Jesus became God.
Confused yet?
There are no clear objective definitions of who Melchisedec really was except of what is written in Hebrews. It was apparent the apostles knew of who he really was but did not elaborate except that he was a heavenly high priest of the Holy God all mighty. One of the mysteries in the Bible that does not fully explain his position. Perhaps in time it will be revealed Melchisedec's real identity. What we know now is Jesus was a high priest "after" the order of Melchisedec. Does this mean we are also priest in the order of Melchisedec as one article hinted since we are Christ followers?
8 comments:
Whenever scripture does not give a lot of detail about something, I believe that it is on purpose; that God did not intend for us to have lots of detail on all aspects of the topic.
So, for Melchisedec, I think it means for me to stick with the obvious. Melchisedec gives me a picture of an eternal priest who is interceding for someone; Jesus in my priest who is forever interceding for me. Without this intercession, I can't get to God. (Need I even add how grateful I am to Jesus?!)
The rest of the questions about Melchisedec are interesting, but I do not see them as fundamental.
Tracy:
I am a naturally curious person thus the quest to learn more about him. However, it raised more questions than answers.
For now, all we do have to go by is how he was presented in scriptures. It has also been said in the ending times the mysteries and the heavens will be revealed for our understanding.
I was at work trying to give examples of how sexual immortality happened all through the Old Testament. Using David and Bathsheba, I told the young girl that even David sinned. I said you know, David and Goliath. She said, "Who's Goliath?" I couldn't laugh because when we were little and never went to church, I thought because on Sunday morning we watched cartoons, I thought Hercules was a Bible character!lol
Bev:
Funny. I can't laugh either. As a child I thought St. Nicolas ( Santa)was bibical.
Thanks for those examples Photogr & Beverly. Just yesterday we were having a discussion during lunch and I was trying to explain why it's such a blessing to grow up in a Christian household; those are great examples. (The reason for our discussion was because my 17-yr old son doesn't like that church attendance is mandatory in our household; he can attend any Bible believing church but he must go just about every week)
Tracy:
It is good that you insist he be involved in a church so that he can learn moral and ethical principles.
He certainly will not get that type of teaching out of the schools today. Most openly teach anti christian values which appear to be the problem with our youth today getting in so much trouble and feeling they can do what ever feels ok to them.
Jesus is the king and He is high priest, too. As per the Moses' law, only Levi can be a high priest and Jesus, being not a Levi cannot be a high priest.
A precedence in the law is needed to justify Jesus' priesthood. Apostle Paul uses example of Melchizedek and quotes the precedence. Thus, Jesus can be high priest and law is not broken or compromised. Jesus is high priest by virtue of Melchizedek's priesthood.
Most if not all articles misses that Melchizedek was a king and thus must be having many people as subjects in his kingdom. Probably there were thousands of people in his kingdom worshipping true God who is God of Abraham, too.
God's blessings were not limited to JEWS as we are tend to think. Jesus said, "There are sheep which are from other folds". Thus, we can be priests before God.
Here is my interpretation for further reading.
http://blog.vishwas.org/archives/336
God bless you all...
Thanks for dropping by Michael. As it is stated in scriptures, Jesus is a High priest "after" the order of Melchisedec. Melchisedec was stated as a king of Salem in Abrahams time but the issue of Abraham giving a tenth of his rewards of battle leads me to believe Abraham felt that Melchisedec was some one more divine.
Although the disciples clearly understood Melchisedec's position, We were left out in the cold as to understand his importance.
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